Redemption
by U-knight
Summary: BOTW spoilers, probably. Link and Zelda try to cope with the aftermath of Calamity Ganon in their own ways. Zelda locks herself in her study, blaming herself. She has a plan to fix everything she's broke, and that plan just might just involve finding a relic lost to time. Link struggles to find meaning and purpose in a ruined Hyrule.


**Hey, it's U-knight. I know this is terribly short; I just really wanted to get SOMETHING out there. Future chapters will hopefully be longer. Or not. Life happens. I'll try to keep posting new chapters, but my life gets a bit crazy sometimes. Please leave a review, bad or good on what you think so far. Not much to go on, I know. I have a pretty cool idea for where I want this to go, so look forward to that.**

 **Thanks in advance, U-knight**

"Zelda, you've been in the study for over two weeks straight… please come out," Link said to the door. "Zelda? You didn't touch the food I brought you... I'm actually a surprisingly good cook, and I saw some recipes while assessing the damage done in the library. It's your favorite, so I'm told. Zelda. Zelda," he huffed in exasperation. "I'm coming in."

Link opening the door to find the sleeping figure of Zelda sprawled over various scrolls and books, all covered in notes and scribbles. Link smiled at her terrible penmanship. It was quite cute, in his opinion. His smile turned to a snicker as a thought entered his mind. He carefully snuck over to the sleeping princess.

"Open your eyes," he whispered, holding back laughter.

"Open your eyes."

"Wake up, Zelda."

The princess groaned in grogginess as she stirred from her sleep, at which point Link could no longer hold back his laughter.

"Very funny, Link," her cheeks flushed as she was forced to recall her highly dramatic words turned back on her. As she got up, she unstuck a piece of paper that had fixed itself to her face. Her cheeks were now bright red.

"As fun as this moment of levity has been Link, I really must get back to my research," she said, tidying the scattered books.

"What? Still? It's been weeks, Zelda. And it would be more if we didn't get you out there to check out Vah Ruta," Link frowned

"And nothing was wrong with Ruta, you and King Dorephan faked the whole thing to get me out of my study, the scoundrels you both are. I might have known, Sheikah technology doesn't just up and break without reason," Zelda scolded.

"I'm not even a bit sorry either," Link said firmly. "At least eat this fruit cake I made for you. Put a lot of work into that, you know," he sighed as he set the dessert on her desk.

Zelda could feel her stomach start to gurgle. When did she last eat? It must have been a day or so.

"I suppose, since you put so much effort into it," she reached for the cake hungrily. She took a bite, frowned, and set down the plate.

"What's wrong? Is it bad?" Link asked.

"No…it's delicious. I…just…, I…haven't had this in so long…my…my dad used to make…," Zelda cleared her throat and took a deep breath. Well, thank you Link, it really is quite good."

Link frowned. He knew the weight of all that had transpired still wore heavily on her. He felt it too, and it weighed on him every night, but a knight is strong, and a knight he was.

"Well, get some sleep, I've decided tomorrow we'll make for Kakariko. Impa's waited far too long to see you, princess," Link declared. He decided this more for Zelda's sake than Impa. Zelda needed some fresh air.

" _You've_ decided, have you? And what of me? Do I get a say in this?" Zelda replied pointedly.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Zelda, but she's been waiting for over a hundred years now and she's not exactly getting any younger. You have to visit sometime and it really must be soon," said Link softly.

"I fully intend to. Her and everyone else," she responded stubbornly.

"Everyone else?"

"Err…yes, her and…and…Purah! And everyone else I haven't seen yet," she said hurriedly.

Link stood in the doorway. "Yes, well, maybe tomorrow is a bit sudden. Maybe on the next full moon. I'll prepare some supplies for the trip. Please, Zelda, I'm going with or without you. Please come."

He coughed awkwardly and made his exit. As the door closed, Zelda's smile fell. She stared at the fruit cake on her desk. She pushed it aside to make room for a large, extremely weathered book. She opened it up to a bookmarked page.

"I'm getting so close. So close, but something's missing," she murmured to herself.

The book was opened to a page that only contained one sprawling drawing. It was the Triforce.

"Where are you? Where were you when Hyrule needed you?" she asked the drawing. "What am I not seeing?"


End file.
